WARNING: This Python Did Not Eat A Man, But Your Facebook Account WAS Compromised!

There are lots of scams going around on Facebook right now, and we bet you've either fallen for one or someone you know has. How would you know? The scam "outs" the poor soul in the most obvious way possible, by convincing him or her to post it on their own wall (and spread the scam further). And that's just one of the methods circulating right now. We'll explain and tell you what to watch out for and hopefully prevent your account from being compromised.

There are lots of scams going around on Facebook right now, and we bet you’ve either fallen for one or someone you know has. How would you know? The scam “outs” the poor soul in the most obvious way possible, by convincing him or her to post it on their own wall (and spread the scam further). And that’s just one of the methods circulating right now. We’ll explain and tell you what to watch out for and hopefully prevent your account from being compromised.

Here’s how it goes: You see the horrifying image above claiming that a python ate a man while he was passed out drunk. Who wouldn’t click to see this?

But once you click, you’re redirected to this page, where you’re told that you need to share the post first, and then come back and press play for it to work:

And (as mentioned above), it still won’t play after you share it, but you’ve successfully spammed all of your friends, and a few of them will do the same.

Harmless annoyance? Not quite: You just gave someone access to your Facebook account, and who knows what they’ll do from that point? Like pages using your name? Send malware links to your friends?

Speaking of which, here’s a Facebook message hoax that likely leaves behind all kinds of badness once you click this link (sent from a friend):

There’s also a video showing a huge pimple on the back of someone’s neck. Ew.

So if you see something outrageous and it requires you share first and view later, click away — fast. And let your friends know too. If you’ve seen this snake image, they’ve been duped.

Oh and if you’ve already clicked/shared, you should change your Facebook password, check your connected applications in the account settings (for anything you didn’t authorize), and run a virus scan. And share your mistake on your wall so that the friends you doomed can do that same.

Readers: How many of your friends have fallen victim to this scam? Have you?